– August 29th, 2013 – Rising out of the same Maryland/DC mean streets as fellow US doom pioneers Pentagram and The Obsessed, Iron Man was formed in 1988 as a Black Sabbath tribute band by guitarist Alfred Morris III, whose musical career began in 1977 with mysterious proto-doom cult FORCE. Al’s legendarily heavy, unearthly guitar tone was already much in evidence on FORCE’s ultra-rare 1981 debut EP – and it has only deepened, hardened, improved and refined in the ensuing 32 years.

Every Friday I turn the blog over to Dan Marsicano for his Retro Recommendation, giving you a chance to learn about underrated and overlooked gems from metal’s past. This week, Dust are in the spotlight. The proto-metal band, whose drummer was Marky Ramone, released two albums before disbanding. Those two records have been remastered on a single CD and reissued. 1971’s Dust and 1972’s Hard Attack are this week’s Retro Recommendation.

Shadow Kingdom Records, in its penchant for reissuing early rock/metal classics, has re-released the 1971 opus “Mourning” from Bolder Damn. One of the seventies’ heavier acts, the Ft. Lauderdale band’s classic album has been fully remastered and updated with band pictures and information. Over forty years ago upon its issue, “Mourning” was proto-doom with its heavily fuzzed-out and psychedelic sound of that Blue Cheer/Sir Lord Baltimore era. The seven-song release is streaming over on the Shadow Kingdom bandcamp page, or below.

Pentagram is currently auditioning new guitar players. As was previously announced, guitarist Victor Griffin is performing his farewell shows during the Oct/Nov European Relentless Tour. He’ll be focusing on his solo career from this point on and the band and fans wish him all the best. The following press release was also issued:

“Victor will forever be an important part of the ‘Ram Family.’ Pentagram is now searching for the perfect player who can easily play the blazing, early blues-based, hard rock, proto-metal of the late Vincent McAllister as well as the doom metal mastery of the one and only Victor Griffin. Tone, chops, appearance, tour experience & availability (US and abroad so a passport is required), song writing skills, and sobriety are all important factors. The band will be writing/recording their follow up to the acclaimed Metal Blade release, Last Rites this coming December and January.

“Someone who is close to the Washington, DC area is preferred but exceptions will be made for the perfect player. For songs and video of the band, visit this location. Please submit a short bio, a photo, and audio or video of you playing. Pentagram song covers are preferred and the following songs are suggested:

“Please send submissions to: PentagramAuditions@gmail.com. In other news, Pentagram is gearing up to tour Europe and the dates will commence with the band’s first ever UK tour. In a celebration of Victor Griffin’s time with the band, Pentagram will be playing the Decibel Magazine Hall of Fame album, Relentless, in its entirety. After the doom pioneers first-ever UK show in London in 2011, Bobby Leibling and the boys return for four shows with Gentlemans Pistols as support, kicking off in Bristol at The Fleece.”

Kaotoxin records is proud to announce the inking of a multi-album deal with French death metal horde Savage Annihilation. The band’s debut full-length, “Cannibalisme, hérésie et autres sauvageries” will be out on October 1st, 2012. Kaotoxin also issued the following biography of the band:

“Formed in 2002 in the center of France with and by members of Defecal Of Gerbe (Goregrind) and Brennkelt (Black Metal), Savage Annihilation is all about being true to what its name suggests.

“A first eight track demo, ‘Death in Progress’ is released in 2004, which gets them the opportunity to open for a wide amount of bands (among which Happy Face, Trepan’Dead…). The demo is followed, in 2008, by a split CD (with Decrepify (US), Visceral (Chile) and Ad Nauseum (FR)), featuring three tracks, among which a Sepultura cover that’s gonna end on two different tributes also (‘From Roots to the Seed’ – Chabane’s recs & ‘A Grind Tribute to 80’s Thrash’ – Inhuman Homicide recs). Since then, the band has constantly played everywhere they’ve been able to in Europe.

“For their tenth year mark, Savage Annihilation are proud to announce that they’ve inked a multi-album deal with up-and-coming French label Kaotoxin Records (home of Darkall Slaves, Dehuman, Eye Of Solitude, Gronibard, Infected Society, Insain, Unsu, VxPxOxAxAxWxAxMxCx…) which will result in the release, on October 1st, of their debut full-length, ‘Cannibalisme, hérésie et autres sauvageries’ (ten tracks, 40+ minutes).

“Raw, brutal, fast, blasting and featuring sick soloing, Savage Annihilation is bringing back that primal proto Death Metal feeling the likes of Morbid Angel (‘Abominations’ / ‘Altars’-era), (early)Sepultura, (early) Krisiun, Nephasth or Nefas made popular before them, with the addition of their very own vision of twisted-ness.

“Cannibalisme, hérésie et autres sauvageries will unleash Savage Annihilation’s heretic Armageddon upon mankind, joining the Great Old Ones in their quest for the (savage) annihilation of mankind.”

Before Hole, before THE PRETENDERS, before THE SLITS, there were THE RUNAWAYS… Whether you consider them to be proto-punk rockers or heavy metal guitar heroes, there is no doubt that they helped to change the shape and perception of women in the male-dominated field of rock ‘n’ roll forever.

I have never been one that was fond of post-rock, let alone post-metal. I have always considered it contrived music that kind of just rambled on from song to song with little focus. ISIS, of course, are the breadwinners and main culprits of this modern variance, and that is one band, of course, that I cannot get into for the life of me. Post-metal is not a sub-genre that I find fault with, and am fine discussing it with those who are fond of it, it’s merely one of those musical identities that just doesn’t provide much value to me. Portugal’s Catacombe, and their 2010 effort Kinetic, is another such album that can grace the genre of post-metal, and while I do find some minor variances in it’s effectiveness, I don’t believe it strays from the typical, meandering post-metal path.

Kinetic marks the debut of Catacombe, and I must put forth, that this is every post-metal fan’s wet dream. It has all of the telltale marks of non-stop, static crescendos, followed by eclipses of echoey melancholy broken down into proto-jazz-fusion riffs. This is thought provoking music that never lets up, but also never really reaches any kind of aggressive climax. Kinetic is chill music through and through, yet is most definitely something that relates most to open minded metalheads, again, as with most post-metal.

My biggest problem with this record, is the lack of variance from song to song (which I think is ultimately the biggest problem I have with most bands of this sub-genre). While each track is a somewhat attractive proposition when listened to standalone, when combined as a full album listen, the effectiveness diminishes, and we are left with a non-invasive trek through a shadowy 52 minutes that fails to invoke much in the way of dynamics for listeners to wrap their brains around.

Again, post-metal fans will eat Kinetic up as if it were a fresh batch of girl scout cookies, but as it pertains to my tastes, there just isn’t enough there to satisfy my particular tastes.

All I can say, is that New England fucking owns! I recently came across a promo for Massachusetts based Fast Death, who are as viscerally hardcore punk as a band can fucking get. The EP is called Fast Death (I think?), and it blasts you in the ovaries (I get sick of saying kick to the balls, so we gotta include the ladies every once and awhile ya know?) like a sledgehammer designed to bust ovaries with brutal punk music playing in the background.

This is a combination of early to mid career Napalm Death, Extreme Noise Terror, Carcass, the ever loved Anal Cunt, and hell, for a little Mass memory, how about Siege to throw into the pot as well. There is nothing ceremonious about Fast Death, this is a hap hazard leap into a pit that is possibly full off spikes, or hot naked chicks. Fast Death isn’t an EP you enjoy like you enjoy your newest Opeth masterpiece, this is punk that even punks have trouble swallowing, this is old school crust punk/proto grindcore craziness, and I had a great time listening!